It’s no secret that the combinations of brutality and technical prowess have become a massive staple of the scene at large given all the bands that are constantly pushing the boundaries of what death metal is capable of in every category without sparing a single moment when it comes to finding out what’s still possible. We’re lucky enough to be in a position where many who attempt such a feat are wildly talented with it feeling like a vast number of new names that come around in the style are immediately more than adept at bringing such power to life in magnificent form. With their debut, Asystole effortlessly makes itself known as a name that does that and a little bit more.

When you’re in an absolute whirlwind of intensity that takes on many different aspects at any given time, it can be outright effortless for any band to lose themselves in any one of those aspects no matter how talented the musicians in question are. Incorporating atmosphere and focusing too much on it, trying to be too flashy in your guitarwork with no real substance outside of that, or trying to simply sound large without having any depth, there are more than a few ways to fumble when striving for excellence in this particular vein of death metal. Across the seven tracks of “Siren to Blight”, it would be a vicious understatement to say that Asystole defies expectations. Taking precedence in the realms of intense ferocity while never once failing to bring an unnerving atmosphere to the table with more than enough melody to pull you back in before resuming the evisceration, it’s across every minute of “Siren to Blight” that we’re given a truly caustic performance that doesn’t gently settle you into the album at large nor does it waste anytime whatsoever in how it proceeds to find new ways of carving your flesh off of your bones at every given opportunity. Rather, Asystole has found a sure-fire recipe for instant combustion of the mind, spirit, and flesh. “Siren to Blight” goes for far more than the throat with these riffs and deluges of devastation that is of the most abominable sort that never fails to fell its mark.

Loaded with immense talent since the beginning, it should have been a no-brainer since day one that Asystole was always going to be a name that was to be respected whenever it did come around, but I’m confident in guessing that few if any of us could have predicted something like this. A perfect lesson in vicious brutality taken to such lengths that are downright shocking in more instances than one, “Siren to Blight” is hopefully just the start of gory offensives such upon life that are destined for no less than unyielding success with a band like Asystole at the helm.

“Siren to Blight” releases on April 7th via I, Voidhanger Records!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Siren to Blight” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Asystole on Facebook here.